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The Road Goes Ever On
The Road Goes Ever On, also known as The Old Walking Song, is a song by Bilbo Baggins while he would be on the road; verses of it are sung at various places in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In The Hobbit The original version of the song is recited by Bilbo during his return journey to the Shire.The Hobbit, Chapter XIX: "The Last Stage" Roads go ever ever on, Over rock and under tree, By caves where never sun has shone, By streams that never find the sea; Over snow by winter sown, And through the merry flowers of June, Over grass and over stone, And under mountains in the moon. Roads go ever ever on Under cloud and under star, Yet feet that wandering have gone Turn at last to home afar. Eyes that fire and sword have seen And horror in the halls of stone Look at last on meadows green And trees and hills they long have known. In The Lord of the Rings Bilbo recites another version of this song when he leaves the Shire for Rivendell.The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book One, Chapter I: "A Long-expected Party" The Road goes ever on and on Down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, And I must follow, if I can, Pursuing it with eager feet, Until it joins some larger way, Where many paths and errands meet. And whither then? I cannot say. Frodo recites a slightly different version of the previous verse (with only the word "eager" changed to "weary" in the fifth line) while on the way to Crickhollow with Sam and Pippin.The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book One, Chapter III: "Three is Company" The Road goes ever on and on Down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, And I must follow, if I can, Pursuing it with weary feet, Until it joins some larger way, Where many paths and errands meet. And whither then? I cannot say. The last version of the song is recited by Bilbo in Rivendell after Frodo and the others have returned to their journey.The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Six, Chapter VI: "Many Partings" The Road goes ever on and on Out from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, Let others follow it who can! Let them a journey new begin, But I at last with weary feet Will turn towards the lighted inn, My evening-rest and sleep to meet. *Parts of it are also sung in the movie The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by Gandalf in the opening scene. The first two lines are said by Bilbo as he leaves Bag End in the evening. *Sections of the poem are sung in the 1977 animated movie version of The Hobbit. *The song can be heard in the 1981 BBC radio version, sung by Bilbo (John Le Mesurier) to a tune by Stephen Oliver. In adaptations The Road Goes Ever On, taking its name from the above, is the title of a collection of sheet music by Donald Swann for poetry presented by Tolkien in his Middle-earth literature. It was first published in 1967. Although the book can at first sight seem mostly useful by musicians (particularly piano and guitar players), it has been found to have a wider use than this, allowing readers to understand the cultures of the various mythological beings presented in Middle-earth better, and helping linguists analyse Tolkien's poetry. For example, it contains one of the longest samples of the language Quenya. The second edition of The Road Goes Ever On, published in 1978, included the poem "Bilbo's Last Song". The third edition, published in 1993 and likely the last, comes with additional poetry and also a CD with recordings for the entire song cycle. Peter Jackson's films Bilbo's second rendition of "The Road Goes Ever One" is sung by Gandalf the Grey and Bilbo in two different scenes of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. ''Only the first two lines are clearly heard (put to a melody by Howard Shore) before their singing trails off or ends. "The Last Goodbye" The song "The Last Goodbye" by actor Billy Boyd, the end credits song for ''The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, seems to be inspired by the version of this song found in The Hobbit. The songs have a similar theme of returning home. Though some of the lyrics have been changed, of particular note are the lyrics: “Over hill and under tree Through lands where never light has shone By silver streams that run down to the sea: Which seems directly inspired by: “Over rock and under tree, By caves where never sun has shone, By streams that never find the sea;” Additionally the lyric “Under cloud and under star” is changed to “Under cloud, beneath the stars” Translations References External link *Text of the song at The Grey Havens fr:La route se poursuit sans fin ru:Дорога вдаль и вдаль идёт Category:Songs and Verses Category:Primary literature